A Story About Powerful Siblings

A little naming inspiration is needed, berries! I am in desperate need of some help! I am developing a story now about a pair of siblings.

The story takes place in a historical fantasy world. These twins have powers. They're ostracized for having their abilities, but they are not alone. There are others who also have powers and are also pariahs because of them. This dissension between the gifted and non-gifted is fueled, naturally, by paranoia, fear, jealousy, and all those other things that make ignorance and prejudice run rampant. The gifted are a minority and the use of their abilities is outlawed and punishable by death. The scope of these powers or gifts varies from individual to individual. Some of the gifted are incredibly powerful while others can only perform what might be equated to parlor tricks.

As the tensions between these gifted and non-gifted parties become increasingly more hostile, gifted people begin fearing for their lives and livelihoods. Desperation and fear drive them to aligning themselves with a group (an almost cult-like group) headed up by an incredibly powerful individual (yet to be determined if this person is male or female) who promises of a future where they will no longer be penalized or persecuted for their abilities.

The major theme in this story is the moral grey area. Who is the real villain? If you were in a similar situation, what would you do to protect your family and friends (whether you're gifted or non-gifted)?

The siblings are twins, a boy and a girl, around the age of 15, 16, or 17. They're both incredibly powerful - the most powerful gifted individuals of their age. Because they're young and harnessing so much powerful energy, they're often unable to control their abilities, often with devastating consequences. The children are incredibly close; they live alone as their parents are deceased.

The story is primarily about the girl. She fears and hates her gifts. She has a terrible time controlling her abilities, particularly in moments when she is overly emotional. Her lack of control is what caused the untimely death of her parents. She lives with the burden of her guilt on a daily basis and, as a result, is very timid and cautious. She adores her brother and relies very heavily on him.

When the sister is unable to control her powers and is caught violating the law, her brother takes the fall for her and is imprisoned. This forces the girl to use her gifts, learn to control them, and face her fears to save her brother. She must come to terms with the politics of their world and where she stands.

Her brother is strong, spirited, and stubborn. He is caustic and openly flippant toward the governing body and laws made against his kind. He is much better at controlling his gifts than his sister and often talks of wanting to join the rebellious group standing against the majority rule that reviles their kind. He doesn't, however, because he knows he could never take his sister with him and he would never leave her.

I cannot decide on names for these two sibling characters. At first, I thought of Victory and Viggo but … I don’t know. Victory is such a strong name for a character that starts out so timid. So then I thought about Evie for the girl because it is a nickname form of Eve, a bit more girly and sweet, in my opinion. However, it still has the connection to Eve and the image of Eve as being both a powerful symbol of feminine power, a temptress, and a knowledge seeker. But then I’m stumped on the boy.

Maybe names based on their powers? Like they have 'normal' names, but in their little cult thing (which doesn't factor into the plot?) they have more indentifier names that they go by. Or just nicknames that they call each other.

It isn't meant to be fan-fiction. Hmm, I didn't really think about the X-Men correlation. But I suppose it is next to impossible to come up with any truly original story. Hopefully I'm not shamelessly ripping them off. I don't think of the powers as being an X-Men sort of specific - like Storm has these powers while Rogue and Magneto have totally different powers. They're more primal, I guess. More generic. You might be able to do all those things or none of those things on your best or worst day.

The cult thing does factor into the plot. The girl will have to face these two opposing sides - this strong, ruling, governing side that despises and fears her, that has taken her brother from her, and this fanatic, almost cult-like, rebellion that wants to seize power ... but is that for the benefit of all the gifted or just the leader?

I like some of these names though. And you're making me think about the story more. Thanks for the inspiration!

It isn't meant to be fan-fiction. Hmm, I didn't really think about the X-Men correlation. But I suppose it is next to impossible to come up with any truly original story. Hopefully I'm not shamelessly ripping them off. I don't think of the powers as being an X-Men sort of specific - like Storm has these powers while Rogue and Magneto have totally different powers. They're more primal, I guess. More generic. You might be able to do all those things or none of those things on your best or worst day.

The cult thing does factor into the plot. The girl will have to face these two opposing sides - this strong, ruling, governing side that despises and fears her, that has taken her brother from her, and this fanatic, almost cult-like, rebellion that wants to seize power ... but is that for the benefit of all the gifted or just the leader?

I like some of these names though. And you're making me think about the story more. Thanks for the inspiration!

Yeah, most 'power-based' stories tend to come across as X-men because it's so well-known. Nature-based powers would be a good way to distance it, and if you get creative with your elements (branch away from the standard four) you could get some really interesting results. Play with the cult, too; if you give them some religious/spiritual factors, a lack of organization/uncertain platform, whathaveyou, that could help as well.

Something that's helped me keep things from being too 'ripped off' is to figure out my favorite aspects of my favorite stories, and see what I can do to incorporate them. The challenge is piecing it all together, and that's what makes something unique. Your combination of elements combined with your style of exposition. Play around with different forms and methods and figure out what not only works best for you, but for your story. Heck, even try a completely different venue; I had something that worked better as a musical than a novel, just because of the way it had to be told. Play with it, challenge yourself; it'll be unique.